Lakers Game Observations: Game 71 @ Magic
Lakers keep the streak alive on another game-winner
Another thriller. Another game-winner. Another clutch win.
The shaky Lakers vibes from earlier in the season feel like a distant memory now. Confidence is so high that no matter how the game unfolds, things just seem to go their way. The Lakers beat the Orlando Magic 105–104 on a last-second Luke Kennard three, extending their streak to nine straight wins and 12 in their last 13 games.
This game reminded me of the first game against the Rockets last week, a slugfest, a low-scoring affair in the trenches, but a really important win to keep their two-game gap for the third spot in the West as long as possible, with still some very tough tests coming up in the remaining 11 games. They won their first four games on this six-game road trip, with two games against the Pistons and the Pacers remaining.
Today’s notes:
A breakdown of the game-winning Luke Kennard shot (🎞️VIDEO)
Lakers off shooting night
Lakers hustle and defensive playmaking save them in a physical back-and-forth battle
Another late Ayton arrival (🎞️VIDEO)
Luka’s 16th technical controversy (🎞️VIDEO)
1-A breakdown of the game-winning Luke Kennard shot (🎞️VIDEO)
Let’s start from the end this time. After Reaves against Minnesota, Hachimura against Toronto, and Dončić against Denver, Kennard was the fourth Laker to hit a game-winning shot this season. I was critical of Kennard’s recent play, and he responded in the best possible way.
Most of the talk about the game-winning ATO will focus on the final possession, which JJ Redick credited to his assistant Greg St. Jean. But the crucial sequence happened on the previous out-of-bounds play. With 4.7 seconds left, Redick called an EOG Up slip play from Brad Stevens’ playbook, designed to punish switching with a slip to the basket. That resulted in a LeBron James slip and a great shot at the rim, but a second of hesitation allowed Paolo Banchero to recover and block it.
That gave the Lakers another chance with a lineup featuring Luke Kennard and Austin Reaves creating havoc as screeners. A decoy action followed, which ended up punishing the Magic for overreacting to James’ slip that they had just seen on the previous play.
Kennard got left wide open, with enough time to fix his shooting sleeve and calmly nail the game-winning three. Great shot, and even better play design by Redick, utilizing Kennard as a screener in actions with his best three players. An end-of-game setup that will terrify any Lakers opponent.
